News & Information for Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts

Main menu

Search form

You are here

Adding flax meal to sandwich bread recipe

February 6, 2012 - 7:46am

gpermuy

Adding flax meal to sandwich bread recipe

Hi everyone,

I want to add flax meal to my bread recipe and wondered if i need to add more yeast to the recipe when doing so, as about.com says. i tried it yesterday and my bread did not rise as much. i read somewhere i needed to sub 1 tbsp of oil for 3 tbsp of flax meal and did that, but it never got as high as usual. in that flax meal is heavier, do i need to add more water or yeast? if so, how much more? I am using active dry yeast.

Never heard about that. Treat flax meal like any other seed or whole grain. An addition of 10% flax meal doesn't make any difference. If you want to add more, you need to add more water, too. And if you want to use flax seed instead of ground flax you'll have to soak them for at least 12 hours before using, since they need to soften to be digestible (and not just fiber).

Thanks for responding. I tried again and treated my recipe the same; however, did add one extra tablespoon of water. And, it came out better this time (yesterday's was a bust), but still didn't rise as much as it has in the past without the flaxmeal.

I found the info about more yeast and/or replacing flour at this link:

Thanks for all your input. Here is the recipe I am using and has been thus far troublesome... it is an alteration of white bread recipe I use and love, but wanted a more nutritious version of it. Maybe you can figure out what is wrong with it?

Karin, the first rise seems almost perfect. it is light, airy and pretty much double in size. i then shape it and place it in the bread pan and here is where the rising trouble begins. it doesn't rise again or very little. while it tastes good this time, I want it to get as fluffy as the original recipe. as a reference, the original version is as follows:

this version works wonderfully and is the perfect texture and size for sandwiches! I did add one extra tablespoon water with the flaxmeal addition. And, changed the sugars around, but that shouldn't bee too much a problem, right?

The other thing that is suspect is that my kitchen can be drafty; however, I set the bowl for first rise and pan for 2nd up on top of my cabinets where it is warmer and with the original recipe, it isn't causing me trouble.

You substituted 2 cups of bread flour with whole wheat. Per 56.5 g of the substituted whole grain you will need additional 14 g of water.

I don't know what your flour weighs, but lets say your 2 extra cups of whole wheat weigh about 240 g (New York Bakers' Conversion Table). That would mean you need 59 g water more. You also added 3 tbsp. ground flaxseed that needs more water, and, also, added more flour when kneading.

You added only 1 tablespoon extra water = 15 g. But to make up for the extra whole grain flour alone you would have needed more than 3 times of that.

The whole grain flour plus ground flaxseed doesn't absorb the water as fast as white flour does. Therefore it might have been sticky in the beginning, and then become drier.

I would try preparing the dough with stretch and fold instead of long kneading, and rather let it rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Since I do not know what your flour weighs, I cannot tell you exactly how much more water you need. I would try the Artisan Bread Every Day technique.

On the evening before baking day, stir together ingredients at low speed (or with wooden spoon), until rough ball forms (1 - 2 minutes). Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Resume kneading on medium-low speed or by hand for 6 minutes, checking the dough repeatedly for hydration. It should feel rather sticky (adjust with more water if necessary). At the end of the 6 minutes the dough should still feel somewhat sticky.

Stretch and fold the dough either in the bowl (with a bowl scraper) or on a lightly floured counter, with wet (!) or oiled hands to prevent sticking. You can also spray the workbench with water or mist it with oil, to prevent the dough from sticking, and use your benchknife to loosen it, if it does. (Resist the urge to use more flour, even if it seems counter intuitive!).

Form dough into a ball, tucking the edges underneath and place back into the oiled bowl. Cover, and let rest for 20 minutes. Repeat the S & F at 20 minute intervals for 3 more times. Then place dough ball in an oiled container, turning it around to coat with oil. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Baking day: Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using to de-chill. Shape dough, place in pan and continue as you usually do.

This way all the necessary additional water is absorbed, and the whole wheat flour has more time to develop its taste.

Follow The Fresh Loaf on:

All original site content copyright 2017 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. Content posted by community members is their own. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. If you see anything inappropriate on the site or have any questions, contact me at floydm at thefreshloaf dot com. This site is powered by Drupal and Mollom.